Thursday, July 31, 2014

Almost August! We're enjoying beautiful, warm weather and stunning Northwest vistas of sea and sky, mountains and water, both in our great outdoors and in the artwork right here at the Gallery. Not only that, but we also feature wonderful wearables, beautiful ceramics, contemporary and Mid-Century Modern furniture, and our extensive collection of batik and ikat textiles.

Speaking of textiles, we are getting ready to add many of these modern and vintage/antique pieces to their own section of our online shop. It will be accessible here, and we'll put up more information and photos as we grow this category of the shop.

Don't forget to click on the provided links to be magically transported to each individual item in the online shop for more details and shipping information.

That's it for July. Do keep an eye on the blog for upcoming events - our next exhibits features the remarkable intaglio prints and paintings of Curt Labitzke - and don't forget, if you'd like advance warning of sales, concerts, exhibits and everything else we get up to delivered directly to your inbox, simply send a note saying so to sr@theislandgallery.net and we'll sign you up.

It's going to be sizzling hot in downtown Winslow this Friday, August 1st, and no place will be hotter than The Island Gallery! Come and join us for fabulous music, a sip of wine, an appetizer, perhaps a dance or two, and enjoy extraordinary art.

Curt Labitzkewas born in New York in 1958, his father an
illustrator and his mother a quilt-maker. He received his Masters of Fine
Arts from the University of Notre Dame in 1984 with a concentration in
Painting, Printmaking and Drawing. Upon completion of his degree he
joined the Studio Art faculty at the University of Washington, Seattle. Curt is
currently the Chair of the Printmaking and Interdisciplinary Visual Arts
Programs and regularly teaches in the School of Art’s study abroad program in
Rome and Florence, Italy.

His work is influenced by his extensive travels and reflects
a passion for the sensuous quality of Etruscan art, the beauty of the
Renaissance, the poetic storytelling of the Greeks and the brut directness of
the German Expressionists.

The intaglio prints, often built of iconic figures inspired
by ancient Greek and Roman portrait busts, peer from their ambiguous space
seeking empathy as they passionately engage the viewer.

Curt’s artistic process involves several stages: sketching,
etching the sketched figure onto a copper or plexiglas plate, inking the plate,
running the inked plate through a vintage press onto archival paper,
distressing the printed paper with a variety of tools and adding pigment, again
inking the plate and running the initial printed paper through the press again,
repeating the distressing, pigment and print steps up to five times.The resulting print resembles a treasure unearthed
from an archeological dig.

Curt’s work has been exhibited
internationally in Italy, France, Mexico and Chile, across the United States,
and locally at venues such as the Seattle Art Museum, Tacoma Art Museum, and
the Jacob Lawrence Gallery.

Ranger and the Re-Arrangers: Bainbridge Island’s own Gypsy Jazz
band!Playing in the upbeat style created
in the 1930s by Django Reinhardt and other European string players who embraced
American jazz, fiddling phenomenon Ranger Sciacca fronts this sizzling hot
fivesome of violin, mandolin, bass, percussion and rhythm guitar as they play
their award-winning originals, swing standards, and traditional Gypsy tunes.
Ranger’s creative, syncopated leads complement the band’s steady, swinging
rhythms.

Michael
Sciacca, Ranger’s dad, has been his
rhythm guitarist for years; they have performed as a swing jazz duo since 2001.

Bassist
Todd Houghton has had an extensive career in performing, teaching, and
producing music. Todd is an advisor to Jack Straw Production’s Blind Youth
Audio Project and has hosted an “open mic” on Bainbridge Island, Washington
since 1993.

Percussionist
Jeffrey Moose has a 30-year career in both music and fine art. His
collaborations and band projects include work with Joined at the Head,
Heliotroupe, Dog Superior, Stiff Kitty, Atoke, Zayah Emmanuel, and Sam Andrews,
founder of Big Brother and the Holding Company. He is currently director of
Jeffrey Moose Gallery in Seattle.

Sunday, July 6, 2014

It's going to be a hot one in downtown Winslow on this coming First Friday! Our new exhibit features the banners of extraordinary shibori artist Carter Smith, and we are delighted to introduce Renee Jameson and her wonderful monotype prints. The Julie Duke Band will rock, roll, and rip up the night with special guest jammer Peter Spencer, in concert on the Plaza. Do NOT miss this one - we're going to party!

Left: Banner, Carter Smith.Right: Puget Sound Dawn, Renee Jameson.

Carter Smith:Shibori Master

July 11 –
27, 2014

Introducing Bainbridge Island Artist

Renée Jameson

Monotype Prints

Reception,
First Friday, July 11, 6-8 pm

Music
by

The Julie
Duke Band

on
the Plaza

Shibori banners and new fashions

from one of America's finest shibori artists.

Introducing Bainbridge Island artist Renee Jameson, whose

monotypes reflect summer's color spectrum.

About the Artists:

Carter Smith:Carter Smith has been dyeing
one-of-a-kind fabrics since 1965 when he learned tie-dye techniques from his
mother. Originally working in silk, he created and sold 30,000 individual
stretched pieces and banners, eventually adding to his process over forty new
steps that multiplied into over a thousand techniques.

Today,
Carter has over 250 original bias design concepts and creations, and after 40
years and over 200,000 yards of fabric personally dyed by Carter, his passion
remains stronger than ever. He has been featured in many publications over the
years, most recently in Ornament Magazine (June 2009).

Renée Jameson:Renée was born in
Western Washington State and grew up in Seattle.She received her BFA from Cornish College of
the Arts in Seattle, Washington, and is a monotype artist living and
working on Bainbridge Island.Her work
has been shown locally and can be found in private collections in Washington
and California. Currently she is the printmaker liaison for the Bainbridge Artisan Resource Network (BARN) setting up the print studio for the BARN.

Renée
comments:

“I walk daily along the shoreline on Bainbridge Island and am
inspired by the constantly changing sky. One of the most exciting
things I observe is how rapidly the cloud formations change into new and
dramatic shapes within seconds. I have my camera with me at all times
on my walks. Some days I see very little that interests me and other
days the sky is extraordinary. I try to create a world viewers can
interpret and respond to in their own way. In this way I consider
myself an abstract artist. My objective is to create a mood and
atmosphere that will evoke an emotion in the viewer and possibly a
memory from the past.”

The Julie Duke Band:The Julie Duke Band delivers an edgy,
unrestrained blend of Blues hailing from the Delta to Chicago, 1920s through the current day. Their cover versions are choice and eclectic,
including songs by Elmore James, Bobby “Blue” Bland, Koko Taylor, Freddie King
and Big Mama Thornton. They take a song, honor its origins, and then make
it their own with drop-dead vocals and foot stomping, hip swaying rhythms.

The Julie Duke Band will get the staunchest of blues disbelievers tapping their toes and moving to the beat. With their entertaining
stage show, expert musicianship and unique sound, The Julie Duke Band has built
a wide and devoted following, drawing crowds to shows at venues as diverse as
the Coyle Community Center, the Bite of Seattle,
Bainbridge’s Bloedel Reserve and the Seven Cedars Casino.

About Us

400 Winslow Way E., #120, Bainbridge Island, Washington, United States

Established in 2002, The Island Gallery features the work of internationally recognized artists in the fields of studio furniture and sculpture; museum quality textile art and wearables; wood fired ceramics; paintings and prints; and unique jewelry creations. Our monthly exhibitions include live musical concerts, featuring such genres as jazz, rock, folk, chamber music and performance art. This, along with its reputation for excellence, makes The Island Gallery a destination spot on beautiful Bainbridge Island, a short ferry ride from Seattle.
On this blog we will have an opportunity to quickly post news of our latest acquisitions and favorite things, to relay information on upcoming events both in the gallery and in the area, and to hear back from you.
Phone: 206.780.9500
Hours: Monday-Friday, 11-6pm; Saturday, 10-6pm; Sunday, 12-5pm.